ABC games

I can't wait to share all the activities we are having here at dacha these days: crafts are made, pictures are taken, new things are learned.

I have made a picture book which is called "I Spy ABC". Soon it will be available for purchasing. Here you can see how we play with the first page.

We have started learning English abc not because it is right time for Taisia to start reading but because this is how I struggle for English in our everyday life. Because this summer does not promise any English environment for my daughter, on the contrary, she has lots of Russian speaking friends and she feels at ease playing wth them, which is good for her Russian.

We have the Usborne Big Phonics Workbook ordered here (vkontakte) and have already passed through few pages. It starts with letters: s, a, t, p. First day was great. Tasia learned how to write S, from top to bottom, not vice versa. She did it with her finger in the air, on a plate with semolina grains and with a pencil in the book. Then she went for 'S' hunt into the kitchen where we marked with S-stikers jars of salt, sugar, semolina, sesame seeds and a shelf of sausepans. I also gave her a bag filled with objects that started with S: scissors, salt shaker, spoon, sea shell, snail (toy). I found this idea with letter bag in the book 'Learn-The-Alphabet. Arts and Crafts'.

You may contact me and I could share this file with you.

Next day letters 'a', 'p' and 't' were learnt. Of course she had known them before, but only capital letters, now she recognises small letters and we are working at proper writing them.
We did not have a letter bag for A (had no chance to pick the objects yet) but for T bag were taken: t-shirt, little towell, torch, toothbrush, scotch tape. P bag collection: pink paint and a paint brush, hair pin, pony, pasta (dry macaroni), pepper shaker. You may see the letter bag and the shadows of the contents in this picture.

She loved ABC movement game so much! This game also comes from the book 'Learn-The-Alphabet. Arts and Crafts' and I strongly recommend this simple idea for all the parents: prepare a set of cards with letters which you want to revise. It may be 3-5 different letters, not more. Show each letter one by one and agree the action you expect your child to do when the letter is shown. When you see A- clap your hands. When you see S - squat down. Uhen you see T - you'll get tickled! When you see P - give me a pinch. Here we go!

Here is the best tip for anyone who works with kids: there should be more movement games than working sheets.

Tasia hunts for treasure

Though any scavenger hunt deserves an independent post, I include it here as there is not much to say. It was a part of abc revising game and at the same time it was a terrain association game.

 It took some time to prepare for the game secretly when she took a nap. There were clues with letters: a, j, p, t, s and Tasia had to guess what these letters standed for, all objects were to be found in the garden (apple tree, jasmin, pear, table tennis, shovel). I  made a map and cut it in two pieces which were hidden apart: one on the pear tree the other under the table tennis. And in the end of the journey she found the hidden shovel and the exact spot where she dug up the threasure chest (tea box). Inside there was a message which said 'for Tasia' and a chocolate coin.

I try to do my best to make learning a great fun for Taisia. And she is lucky. Though I can see she is so immature for first reading lesson. There are first words in the book: sat, pat, tap and she can't get through this part yet. She looks blankly at me when I teach her to put letters together into words. Then I say, look at the page, not at me :) but it does not work. Probably, we need more time just playing with letters. And I've got this set of wooden letters, I love it. You may order it here.

I wish you happy English adventures!